Back to Schule

Seems like forever since my last post! The things returned to school last week after what seemed like an endless summer - to me, anyway.  What do expats do about school when they are away from home?  That depends, but most of us USA expats send our kids to one of the many international school options unless your kids happen to be fluent in the language of your host country. Austrian schools, in case you're wondering, start on September 3rd.

Here in Vienna, there are many more choices than there were in Warsaw.  I attribute this to the large United Nations prescence here as well as other international organizations like the IAEA.  There is the American International School, The Vienna International School, The Danube School, The British School, the Lycée Français de Vienne, the Vienna Elementary School, the International Christian School, Mayflower Christian Academy and, for the more musically inclined middle/high schoolers, the Amadeus International School of Music. 

Parents seem to send their kids to the one where most of their coworkers send their kids. Preference is given to diplomats.  The Embassy allows us to choose.  The tab is paid by the Embassy or parent employer.  This is an amazing opportunity to send your children to a private school that is paid for by someone else.  Bus transportation via PostBus to and from is also paid by the Embassy.

Most of these schools are large compounds that house K-12 on a sprawling campus.  Some, like the one Thing 1 attended in Warsaw, are very modern, state of the art new facilities.  The school the kids are attending in Vienna is not as impressive on the outside compared to the one in Warsaw, but once you're in inside and see what is available you realize that opportunity within the walls far exceeds the exterior presentation.  

Our school is on top of a hill in the 19th district bordering the Vienna Woods.  Not having a car, we hoofed it up there for orientation.  Being that the school is built in to the hill, there are lots of stairs to climb just to get to class.  My children were not amused.  Thanks to all my incline walking, I did not have much of a problem.  However, the heat is what was broke me.  

Why heat?  Because like every other place in Vienna, the school is NOT air conditioned.  So, while walking up all those stairs is not a problem, your increased hear rate will prompt you to break a sweat with no remedy for cooling off.  The school opens all windows and some rooms like the music and computer rooms are air conditioned because temp control is required.  Unfortunately, the few days have brought us temperatures in the 90's which can make it unbearable.  I attended a PTA meeting last week in a room that was not air conditioned and packed with parents.  Thankfully I, and many others, had something to fan themselves or we would have passed out.  Everyone keeps saying that the cool weather will arrive in a few weeks and stay through June 2013. There is truth to this as today the mercury is not getting far above 65 degrees. Relief is in sight!

The school is divided up into elementary, middle and high school.  For the purposes of this entry, I am focusing on the elementary school.  The school covers pre-K to 5th grade.  In addition to the regular curriculum of reading, writing and arithmetic, students are expected to take German up to five times per week, play a musical instrument (beginning in 2nd grade), take art, music, computers and PE up to three times per week. They also go to the library once per week and have character building lessons with the school counselor on a rotation. There are classrooms for German, art, general music, instrumental music, an upper and lower gym, soccer pitch, a sports hall and a theater.

After school activities are also incorporated into the school.  These are paid by the parents and include martial arts, basketball, gymnastics, choir, guitar, swimming, arts/ceramics, theater arts, yoga, dance, and even digital photography.  Sign ups took place Wednesday and it was like getting concert tickets. We managed to secure 4 days of after school activities for both kids and will be paying about $1230 USD for four months worth of activities for two kids. To compare, last year, we paid $3500 for one semester for Thing 1's martial arts after school program.

The Parent Teacher Forum (PTF) is the school's version of the PTA/PTO we have in the USA.  Besides meetings that are held in a really hot room, they sponsor activities throughout the year for both parents and families.   The school itself also sponsors certain activities like UN Day in October and the Ski Trip during winter break in February.

Speaking of breaks....there are lots of breaks here.  There is autumn break (1 week) in October, Thanksgiving Break (same as USA), Christmas Break (3 weeks), Winter Break in February (1 week), and Spring Break (1 week).  This does not include all the Austrian holidays, state and religious ones, when school is closed.  The kids get a ridiculous amount of vacation with ample opportunity for travel. 

Finally one of the better aspects is the communication between the school and parents.  The school is in many ways more technologically advanced than our experience back home.  They have a presence on Facebook and Twitter.  They have an iPhone app where you can check on bus status, news, and find phone numbers for whomever you wish to contact regarding the school. 

Each grade has a website which is further broken down by teacher. The sites include units of study on each subject matter and lets parents know what the kids are learning in class.  There is also a section on homework.  The kids bring homework home, but it is also posted online.  There is no excuse for failing to complete homework.  Each teacher has a blog forum where parents can post questions and discuss topics related to the class or their kids.  There is a section for announcements, online and other student resources as well as a contact form where you can communicate with the teacher.  Parent-teacher communication is done online with the exception of any requested conferences.

Thing 1 will be given his own laptop next week which he is going to be using at home and at school.  He is expected to bring it to school daily, fully charged and will be taking it to his different classes.  The laptops are issued, updated and maintained by the school.  Hence the 350 Euro refundable deposit we had to make back in May. They will be given to us at Back to School Night next week.

But, the best thing I could have hoped for was the reaction from my kids when they came home the first day.  Thing 2 cried a bit when I dropped her off the first day, but if you know her, it was mostly drama that she soon got over.  She was all smiles when she got home. Both kids were sharing the words they learned in German class and what specials they had that day.  But, Thing 1, made my heart sing.

As many of you know from my random Facebook postings, we struggled watching the treatment that Thing 1 received from his peers when he entered his local public school almost 4 years ago.  He was teased for the stutter he had (which disappeared within a few months of being back in the US), then it was for not being athletic or being the youngest and smallest, etc.  It hurt to watch him want to have a friend so much but being rejected when he tried.  Eventually, he made some friends, but I don't think he ever forgot how it felt to be rejected and he stopped trying to approach kids unless they were new in school (he knew what that felt like).

My biggest concern for him was whether or not he would come out of his shell and be a bit more outgoing with other kids. Well, my concerns were eased rather quickly.  He came home telling me that he was sitting at lunch by himself and another 5th grade boy said "Hi, are you new? Do you want to come sit with us and be friends?" And like that, his entire confidence changed.  He has been doing his homework and reading without me even having to remind him.  It's almost as if he was having such a rough time socially the last couple of years that he had given up on school both socially and academically. Now he is riding the bus (which is chaperoned) and has friends on the bus and at school.  He is even trying new foods and signed up for ball sports (never interested him before).

Thing 2 will thrive in any environment. Thing 1 thrives in this one.  This environment celebrates differences rather than the schools at home where being the "same" is celebrated and being different gets you laughed at, teased or threatened.  If we are blessed with the opportunity to do a lateral assignment after this, we are going to go for it, if only to help get Thing 1 through his adolescence with as much self esteem as possible.

It looks to be a great school year!